Hirsch Library Research Guide

The Indian Triumph of Dionysus Unknown Roman Roman, Roman Empire, 180-195 AD Marble, Overall: 34 1/2 x 85 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (87.6 x 217.8 x 24.1 cm)

Museum purchase funded by Lee and Joe Jamail in honor of Caroline Wiess Law

This white marble panel, commissioned by a wealthy Roman follower of the mystery cult of Dionysus, depicts the god's triumphant return after 1. Dionysus lounges amid the surrounding revelry. spreading the miracle of wine culture to India and the East. At the composition's center, Dionysus is identified by his headdress of grapes and 2. Dionysus reclines on a cart drawn by two panthers. He is often associated with panthers because myth tells how he grape leaves. His languorous pose and relaxed state of undress suggest transformed himself into a panther and punished two sensuality. women who denied his divinity. Around him, graceful female celebrants called maenads dance and play 3. Captives from Dionysus' Indian campaign, on the back music. Satyrs, male followers with both human and animal of the elephant characteristics, try to interest the maenads. The old satyr, Silenus, rides a donkey beside Pan, a forest creature who looks back at Dionysus. Young 4. Satyr (male) and maenad (female) cherubs caress the feet of Dionysus and guide the panthers pulling his cart. Captives taken in India ride on an exotic elephant at the rear of the 5. Pan, a forest being with human torso and goat legs parade.

6. The old satyr, Silenus, balances a bowl of fruit on his A masterpiece of high-relief sculpture, this panel would have formed the head, an amazing feat since he is usually depicted as front of a sarcophagus, a magnificent place of final rest. It measures about inebriated by wine. seven feet long and three feet high.

Online Resources: Hirsch Library Online Catalog The Metropolitan Museum of Art Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

Articles: (full-text access available on-site; off-site access available through your school library or Houston Public Library) Bodel, John. “Death on Display: Looking at Roman Funerals.” Studies in the History of Art 56 (1999): 258-281. McCann, Anna M. “Two Fragments of Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Illustrating the Indian Triumph of Dionysus.” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 36 (1977): 123-136. Sorabella, Jean. “A Roman Sarcophagus and Its Paton.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 36 (2001): 67-81.

Print Resources:

Myth, Meaning, and Life, Death and Living with Myths: Dionysos at Large Classical Art: From Memory on Roman Representation The Imagery of Greece to Rome Sarcophagi Roman Sarcophagi Bibliography

General Surveys of Ancient Egyptian Art Gardner, Helen, Fred Kleiner, and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages. 12th ed. Belmont: Thomas/Wadsworth, 2005. N 5300 .G25 2005 Ref. Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. The Visual Arts: A History. 5th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1999. N 5300 .H68 1999 Janson, H. W., and Penelope Davies. Janson’s History of Art: The Western Tradition. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. N 5300 .J3 2007 Ref. Stokstad, Marilyn, and David A. Brinkley. Art History. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. N 5300 .S923 2008 Ref.

Roman Stone Sarcophagi J. Paul Getty Museum. Roman Funerary Monuments in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1990. NB 1810 .J25 1990 Lehmann, Karl, and Erling C. Olsen. Dionysiac Sarcophagi in Baltimore. New York: The Institute of Fine Arts, New York, and the Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1942. NB 1810 .L43 1942 Matz, Friedrich. Die Dionysischen Sarkophage. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1968-1975. NB 1810 .D4 Bd.4 Panofsky, Erwin. Tomb Sculpture; Four Lectures on its Changing Aspects from Ancient Egypt to Bernini. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1994. NB 1800 .P3 1964 Reserve

Roman Art, History, and Culture Bernard, Andreae. The Art of Rome. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1977. N 5760 .A4813 1977 Bianchi Bandinelli, Ranuccio. Rome, the Late Empire; Roman Art, A.D. 200-400. New York: G. Braziller, 1971. N 5763 .B513 1971 Reserve Brilliant, Richard. Roman Art from the Republic to Constantine. London: Phaidon, 1974. N 5760 .B74 1974 Reserve Henig, Martin. A Handbook of Roman Art: A Comprehensive Survey of All the Arts of the Roman World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983. N 5760 .H36 1983 Reserve Onians, John. Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. N 5610 .O5 1999 Reserve Strong, Donald. Roman Art. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976. N 5760 .S68 Reserve

Dionysus Aghion, Irène, Claire Barbillon and François Lissarrague. Gods and Heroes of Classical Antiquity. Paris: Flammarion, 1996. N 7760 .A3413 1996 Ref. Boardman, John. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae : (LIMC). Zürich : Artemis Verlag, 1981. N 7760 .L49 1981 Ref. Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. Who’s Who in Classical Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. BL 715 .G68 1993 Ref. Houser, Caroline. Dionysos and His Circle: Ancient Through Modern. Cambridge: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1979. N 7760 .H68 Reserve Otto, Walter F. Dionysus, Myth and Cult. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965. BL 820 .B2 O813 1965 Reserve

This reference guide is just the tip of the iceberg on helpful resources in the library’s holdings. Many of the suggested resources above have their own bibliographies. Each of these may lead you to other resources that would also be helpful in your research here in the museum or in another library. To find additional resources, use keywords such as “Dionysus” and “Sarcophagi” in the on-line catalog and periodical indexes. Once you find a few relevant titles, pay attention to the subject headings to identify similar materials. Examples of useful subject headings are:

Relief (Sculpture), Roman Art and society--Rome Art, Roman

For guidelines about writing it may be helpful to look at Sylvan Barnet’s A Short Guide to Writing about Art, which includes tips for looking, reading, and writing about art. Ask for it at the reference desk. At every stage of your work, please allow the library staff to help you. We can be reached at 713-639-7325 or [email protected]